no Registry.toml file in source directory.

[musm]

mkdir ~/TestLocalRegistry
cd ~/TestLocalRegistry
git init --bare

julia
julia> using Pkg, LocalRegistry
julia> create_registry("TestLocalRegistry", "~/TestLocalRegistry", description = "Test private registry", push=true)

julia> pkg"registry add ~/TestLocalRegistry"
     Copying registry from `~/numerica/NumericaRegistry2`
ERROR: no `Registry.toml` file in source directory.
Stacktrace:
  [1] pkgerror(msg::String)
    @ Pkg.Types ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Types.jl:67
  [2] (::Pkg.Registry.var"#39#41"{Base.TTY, String, Pkg.Registry.RegistrySpec, Nothing})(tmp::String)
    @ Pkg.Registry ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Registry/Registry.jl:214
  [3] mktempdir(fn::Pkg.Registry.var"#39#41"{Base.TTY, String, Pkg.Registry.RegistrySpec, Nothing}, parent::String; prefix::String)
    @ Base.Filesystem ./file.jl:764
  [4] mktempdir(fn::Function, parent::String) (repeats 2 times)
    @ Base.Filesystem ./file.jl:762
  [5] download_registries(io::Base.TTY, regs::Vector{Pkg.Registry.RegistrySpec}, depot::String)
    @ Pkg.Registry ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Registry/Registry.jl:191
  [6] download_registries
    @ ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Registry/Registry.jl:163 [inlined]
  [7] add(regs::Vector{Pkg.Registry.RegistrySpec}; io::Base.TTY)
    @ Pkg.Registry ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Registry/Registry.jl:49
  [8] add(regs::Vector{Pkg.Registry.RegistrySpec})
    @ Pkg.Registry ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/Registry/Registry.jl:46
  [9] do_cmd!(command::Pkg.REPLMode.Command, repl::Pkg.REPLMode.MiniREPL)
    @ Pkg.REPLMode ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:409
 [10] do_cmd(repl::Pkg.REPLMode.MiniREPL, input::String; do_rethrow::Bool)
    @ Pkg.REPLMode ~/.julia/juliaup/julia-1.8.0-beta3+0~x64/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/Pkg/src/REPLMode/REPLMode.jl:387
 [11] top-level scope
    @ REPL[29]:1

[GunnarFarneback]

I believe registry add with a path argument expects the path to contain the files of a registry. If you want the path to be treated as a git repository you have to encode it as a url:

pkg"registry add file:///home/XXX/TestLocalRegistry"

(You also need to remove the copy of the registry that was installed when you ran create_registry in order to test this.)

Some of the package tests might be of interest, e.g.

LocalRegistry.jl/test/register.jl

Lines 190 to 245 in fb3e916

	# Test automatic push functionality. The sequence of events is:
	# 1. Create a bare "upstream" repository.
	# 2. Create a new registry with the upstream as repo and `push = true`.
	# 3. Register a package with `push = true`.
	# 4. Verify that the registry and the upstream repo has the same two commits.
	with_testdir() do testdir
	upstream_dir = joinpath(testdir, "upstream")
	mkpath(upstream_dir)
	upstream_git = gitcmd(upstream_dir, TEST_GITCONFIG)
	run(`$(upstream_git) init --bare`)
	registry_push_dir = joinpath(testdir, "TestRegistryPush")
	create_registry(registry_push_dir, "file://$(upstream_dir)", push = true,
	gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	downstream_git = gitcmd(registry_push_dir, TEST_GITCONFIG)
	packages_dir = joinpath(testdir, "packages")
	prepare_package(packages_dir, "FirstTest1.toml")
	register(joinpath(packages_dir, "FirstTest"), registry = registry_push_dir,
	push = true, gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	@test readchomp(`$(downstream_git) log`) == readchomp(`$(upstream_git) log`)
	@test length(readlines(`$(upstream_git) log --format=oneline`)) == 2
	# Now duplicate the upstream repo. Then register the same package
	# * like before via downstream repo with push,
	# * directly against the second upstream, internally using a
	# temporary clone.
	upstream2_dir = joinpath(testdir, "upstream2")
	mkpath(upstream2_dir)
	upstream2_git = gitcmd(upstream2_dir, TEST_GITCONFIG)
	run(`$(upstream2_git) clone --bare file://$(upstream_dir) .`)
	prepare_package(packages_dir, "Flux1.toml")
	register(joinpath(packages_dir, "Flux"), registry = registry_push_dir,
	push = true, gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	# Can't have `push = false` when using a temporary git clone.
	@test_throws ErrorException register(joinpath(packages_dir, "Flux"),
	registry = "file://$(upstream2_dir)",
	push = false,
	gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	register(joinpath(packages_dir, "Flux"), registry = "file://$(upstream2_dir)",
	push = true, gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	@test readchomp(`$(downstream_git) log`) == readchomp(`$(upstream_git) log`)
	# Can't use standard log format here since the time stamps will be different.
	@test readchomp(`$(downstream_git) log --format=%T:%s`) == readchomp(`$(upstream2_git) log --format=%T:%s`)
	@test length(readlines(`$(upstream2_git) log --format=%T:%s`)) == 3
	# Register one more package, this time using a branch.
	prepare_package(packages_dir, "Images1.toml")
	register(joinpath(packages_dir, "Images"), registry = registry_push_dir,
	push = true, branch = "images", gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	register(joinpath(packages_dir, "Images"),
	registry = "file://$(upstream2_dir)",
	push = true, branch = "images", gitconfig = TEST_GITCONFIG)
	@test readchomp(`$(downstream_git) log`) == readchomp(`$(upstream_git) log`)
	# Can't use standard log format here since the time stamps will be different.
	@test readchomp(`$(upstream_git) log --format=%T:%s images`) == readchomp(`$(upstream2_git) log --format=%T:%s images`)
	@test length(readlines(`$(upstream2_git) log --format=%T:%s images`)) == 4
	end

.